The only annoying thing to me about the new report cards is that there is no narrative. That was the most useful part back when they had Os and Ss.

Anonymous wrote:Um, not a brag. Apparently all the kids get Ps now: the low kids and the above level kids. My point is that the report card is meaningless.

Um, I wish. My kid's grades ran the gamut from ES in Music to Is in Reading and History (1st grader) and Ps everywhere else. I think saying that because your kid got straight Ps its meaningless makes no sense. That's like saying getting straight Bs or As on our report cards back when was meaningless. Unless you want a dissertation on how your child is doing in each subject, you're going to get a metric of some sort, and this is the metric we have now.

Anonymous wrote:

Precisely, it's all a bunch cr@p. Does this remind anyone else of Kurt Vonnegut's short story
"Harrison Bergeron" from the book "Welcome to the Monkey House"?

"It is the year 2081. Because of Amendments to the Constitution, every American is fully equal, meaning that no one is smarter, better-looking, stronger, or faster than anyone else. The Handicapper General and a team of agents ensure that the laws of equality are enforced. The government forces citizens to wear "handicaps" (a mask if they are too handsome or beautiful, earphones with deafening radio signals to make intelligent people unable to concentrate and form thoughts, and heavy weights to slow down those who are too strong or fast)."

I remember reading this as satire in high school twenty years ago. Will the works of Vonnegut, Orwell and Huxley be moved from fiction to non-fiction in another twenty? Let's hope not.

It doesn't remind me of that short story, which yes, I have read. (And if you think that the works of Vonnegut, Orwell, and Huxley have not already long since moved from fiction to non-fiction, then you either haven't read them, or you haven't been paying attention.) Do you think that grading elementary-school children on a scale of ES/P/I/N instead of a scale of A/B/C/D keeps them from learning? Do you believe that MCPS instituted Curriculum 2.0 to hold the advanced kids back?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome! A brag in the guise of a dismissal. Well played, OP!

Not the OP, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't a brag at all.

Getting all 'P's isn't really something to brag about. I think OP was complaining about how inane the system is.

Why not? My kids haven't ever gotten all Ps.

That is pretty bad? Or pretty good? Or pretty confusing?

Wonder if the other countries in the world pussyfoot around giving grades to students!

Precisely, it's all a bunch cr@p. Does this remind anyone else of Kurt Vonnegut's short story
"Harrison Bergeron" from the book "Welcome to the Monkey House"?

"It is the year 2081. Because of Amendments to the Constitution, every American is fully equal, meaning that no one is smarter, better-looking, stronger, or faster than anyone else. The Handicapper General and a team of agents ensure that the laws of equality are enforced. The government forces citizens to wear "handicaps" (a mask if they are too handsome or beautiful, earphones with deafening radio signals to make intelligent people unable to concentrate and form thoughts, and heavy weights to slow down those who are too strong or fast)."

I remember reading this as satire in high school twenty years ago. Will the works of Vonnegut, Orwell and Huxley be moved from fiction to non-fiction in another twenty? Let's hope not.

Anonymous wrote:I really hope that by middle school they are using something that is more concrete. God help us all if this nonsense continues into high school.

Fear not. The middle schools and high schools are using letter grades.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's the thing- not every child gets all P's. Just like not all kids got straight A's. By saying such a flippant comment, you are bragging about your child. Both of my children are advanced and strong students and neither have gotten straight P's. Talking to many other parents has led me to believe this is true for their children too. This is fine. The report card shows what areas they are not proficient in yet. I do wonder if some schools grade harder than others?

I highly doubt that is true. If your kids are 'advanced' and 'strong' students, that means they are 'Proficient'. If they are not getting straight Ps, then there are not 'advanced'. It doesn't mean that they are 'poor' students. Just that they still have work to do to get where MCPS wants them to be.

We were told at our son's Parent Teacher conference in November that the whole fourth grade team decided to not give any ES grades in the first marking period. He actually received two I's on that first report card. His teacher explained that our son received I's in these areas (Writing:Narrative and Writing: Process, Production and Research) because it was the teacher's belief that he was capable of improving, despite the fact that he was doing "proficient" work in these two areas. So even though I understand and agree with the teacher, since it is in essence making my son compete with himself v. other students, I don't think that is how the grading is intended to be implemented.

It is amazing how the county has been able to accomplish implementing a grading system that is simultaneously rigid and vague. At least with the old report cards there was a comment section where teachers could let you know your child's strengths and weaknesses. Honestly, I think not only are some schools grading harder, so are some teachers. This grading system is not helpful at all. I really hope that by middle school they are using something that is more concrete. God help us all if this nonsense continues into high school.

Anonymous wrote:We aren't simply upset with the report card, people. The report card was created as a component of 2.0. Those of us with 4th graders who have the most experience with this pre and post 2.0 world get it. Folks with younger kids probably don't.... But some do. I swear most parents at my school are practically homeschooling their kids nights and over the summer. We shouldn't have to.

What school are you at?

I have experience with the old curriculum and 2.0. I prefer Curriculum 2.0. And I'm not practically homeschooling my 2.0 kid nights and over the summer. (However, I did spend a lot of time with my pre-2.0 kid practicing things the kid hadn't spent enough time on in math, because of over-acceleration.)

We aren't simply upset with the report card, people. The report card was created as a component of 2.0. Those of us with 4th graders who have the most experience with this pre and post 2.0 world get it. Folks with younger kids probably don't.... But some do. I swear most parents at my school are practically homeschooling their kids nights and over the summer. We shouldn't have to.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, MCPS should have come up with a better grade scheme. We wouldn't have as much push back if P was an O. Before, my son was all O and a few Ss. Now he's mostly Ps, a few Is and even fewer ESs. More variation.
Personally, I don't care. I see what is coming home and it is better than before.

I'm reaching the same conclusion. Change the ES to an O, change the P to an S, keep the I, keep the N, and most people will stop complaining about how it's just too hard to figure out the report card

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/reportcardfaq.aspx

and "proficient" means "stupid"

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proficient

and we can just get on with a curriculum that is better than before.

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows that 2.0 dumbed down the targets as a means to address the poor test results of lower income minority students. So now, everyone is proficient and they can call it a win. The fourth grade guinea pigs who end up struggling in MS and HS are the real victims.

Everyone knows this? That's odd. I don't know it.

Anonymous wrote:Our school told us that they RARELY give out ES (it's reserved for the absolute top of the crop and VERY HARD to get and not many children will get that grade). So, my kid comes home with a report card full of ES's (and I mean 2/3 of her grades. I'm not bragging. I'm wondering if her teacher is freer with the ES grades than she is supposed to be and at what level my child is actually performing (in other words is her assessment of what deserves an ES different from other teachers at the same school who are all supposed to go about this in a standardized way)? So far the grading for 2.0 and the explanation of how that grade is reached is less than stellar to me.

I think that you could say the same thing if your kid came home with a report card full of As. Is her teacher freer with the A grades than the teacher is supposed to be? Is she really performing at an A level? What is an A level?

I have a 4th grader and I agree with the pp who called the 4th graders "guinea pigs." These kids are unfortunately on the "leading edge" of 2.0 and, therefore, suffer the most. These 4th graders (and their parents) are in the uncomfortable situation of having experienced life b/f 2.0 for a couple of years. We know that the work is dumbed down (regardless of what the MCPS coded buzzword speak says), we know that the report cards are hide-the-ball, we know that meaningful differentiation isn't happening, we know unit tests have been eliminated, and on and on. Basically, we're in a system where it is almost impossible as a parent to identify warning signs of trouble (or indications of great achievement). Without, as some pp.'s have suggested, basically teaching your child yourself or micromanaging your child's work (so that you know how he's doing), the typical parent has not realistic, meaningful way of knowing if P means your kids is almost failing to keep up or if P means your child is blowing the doors off the place (but the school doesn't want to give ES's). Crazy.
Shame MCPS and whoever else is responsible for this curriculum. Our kids deserve better.

Honestly, MCPS should have come up with a better grade scheme. We wouldn't have as much push back if P was an O. Before, my son was all O and a few Ss. Now he's mostly Ps, a few Is and even fewer ESs. More variation.
Personally, I don't care. I see what is coming home and it is better than before.

Anonymous wrote:These kids are in elementary school. Standard grades are used starting in 6th grades. The children have plenty of time to worry about grades and being challenged past proficiency before college.

Haha, can't wait to see the Proficiency generation get to HS. Tho by then common core will be instated as well.

It's not just the report card...it's so much more. 2.0 is terrible. The bar has been lowered if my kid who struggles with reading and math gets straight Ps just like the super smart kids. The grades are meaningless. At the end of the day, my kid still struggles and hasn't learned much at school. And now it's my job to essentially teach him everything they aren't teaching at school...like basic math skills and spelling and grammar. Very frustrating.